Fri, July 4, 2008
Fort St. John ready to handle oil and gas boom
By LAUREN KRUGEL, THE CANADIAN PRESS
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C., -- Whose motto is "The Energetic City" -- will be able to avoid many of challenges that have become synonymous with the oilsands boomtown of Fort McMurray, Alta., said the city's mayor.
Two enormous natural gas finds in northeastern B.C. -- the Montney Trend and the Horn River Basin -- have piqued the interest of a number of big U.S. and Canadian oil and gas names and sent a massive amount of investment pouring into the region.
"I think we'll see a direct impact. It's hard to say how big, but I feel it's good for us," said Mayor Jim Eglinski.
"We are the service sector of the northeast. As both of these plays are in the northeast, we should get some good spinoffs."
The city of 18,000, about a 15-hour drive from Vancouver and about half that distance from Edmonton, will probably not see the same breakneck population growth as Fort McMurray, since many of the oil and gas workers commute from Alberta, Eglinski said.
"I don't think that we, as a city, will be impacted harshly regarding needing extra housing or accommodating workers," Eglinski said.
"It may put a little bit of a strain on some of the apartments, but generally we don't see large increases because a lot of the workforce is already transient types. They fly in, fly out."
Fort St. John is working hard to make sure its infrastructure, workforce and housing market can keep up with any growth that does take place, said Andy Ackerman, president of the city's Chamber of Commerce.
"As far as planning goes, it's on track and I think the city is well prepared."
Fort St. John has been catching up on a lot of its infrastructure over the past few years.
Roads are being improved, subdivisions are being built and phone companies like Telus are already planning on laying down new cables, Ackerman said.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Business/News/2008/07/04/6061951-sun.html
